Lion's Roar
by Liontooth
Summary: Follow Lionpaw through her life in ThunderClan as she deals with secrets, friends, enemies and misteries. As ShadowClan's threats grow stronger and as the Clans begin pulling apart, the brave will be needed even more... P.S. Rated T for violence, just to be sure... Please review! It's my first story, I wanna know how I'm doing! Feel free to say mostly anythin about it...
1. Allegiances

**Allegiances**

**ThunderClan**

Leader: **Ashstar** – Black tom with amber eyes

Deputy: **Foxtail** – Beautiful ginger-brown tom, green eyes and a fluffy tail.

Medicine Cat: **Dawnflower** – tabby brown she-cat, bright amber eyes

Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)

**Wildtalon** – golden-brown tabby she-cat, dark green eyes and huge claws

**Nightshadow** – black she-cat, blue eyes and dark gray paws

**Darkpelt** – dark brown tabby she-cat

**Apprentice, Honeypaw **

**Silvermist** – silver-gray she-cat, blue eyes

**Stormcloud **– light-gray tom (with darker flecks), amber eyes

**Apprentice, Lionpaw**

**Lightningclaw **– brown she-cat, light-brown spots, amber eyes

**Apprentice, Spottedpaw**

**Oakfur **– dark-brown tom, blue eyes

**Apprentice, Mudpaw**

**Pinefur** – light-brown tom (with black stripes), blue eyes; black paws and ears

**Apprentice, Snowpaw**

**Warriorheart **– black tom (white flecks), white paws and tail tip

**Daisypelt **– ginger she-cat

**Apprenti**ce**, Shadowpaw**

**Swiftbreeze **– pale gray she-cat, white flecks, blue eyes

**Shadowfall** – midnight black tom, dark brown eyes

**Sunheart **– golden-brown tom, blue eyes

Apprentices (more than six moons old, training to become warriors)

**Snowpaw **– white, long-furred tom, unusual blue eyes

**Lionpaw** – golden-brown she-cat, beautiful blue-green eyes

**Honeypaw **– ginger-brown she-cat, amber eyes

**Spottedpaw **– light-brown tom (with black stripes), amber eyes

**Mudpaw** – dark brown tom, black paws and tail tip

**Shadowpaw **– unusually tall black tom, dark brown eyes, almost black

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**Silverfur** – very pale gray she-cat, blue eyes

**Rosetail** – ginger-brown tabby she-cat, green eyes

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**Berrytail ** - friendly ginger tom

**Waspwhisker **– white tom, black ear tips

**Shadowtail** – dark gray she-cat, amber eyes

**ShadowClan**

Leader: **Cedarstar** – light-brown tom, green eyes

Deputy: **Ashpelt** – dark-gray she-cat, blue eyes

Medicine Cat: **Squirrelpelt** – brown spotted she-cat, green eyes

**Apprentice, Smokepaw**

Warriors:

**Mossclaw** – black tom, dark green eyes

**Nightblaze **– very dark gray tom, black flecks and blue eyes

**Blacktooth **– dark brown tom, black muzzle, with an unusual big and dark tooth

**Apprentice, Ashpaw**

**Ravenclaw **– russet she-cat, with unusual black claws, amber eyes

**Apprentice, Dovepaw**

**Crowwing** – black tom with gray flecks and amber eyes

**Marshfoot** – white tom, black hind legs

**Apprentice, Nightpaw**

**Gorsecloud**– black tom, amber eyes

Apprentices:

**Nightpaw** – Black tom, amber eyes

**Dovepaw** – light-brown she-cat, blue eyes

**Ashpaw **– dark gray tom, white paws and tail tip

**Smokepaw** – pale gray tom, blue eyes

Queens:

**Shadowcloud** – dark gray she-cat

**Rosefur **– russet she-cat, dark brown eyes.

Elders:

**Oakclaw** – dark brown tom, amber eyes

**Mudface** – gray she-cat, big brown spot on the face

**WindClan**

Leader: **Cloudstar** – beautiful long-furred white she-cat, blue eyes

Deputy: **Sunspirit **– golden-brown tom, amber eyes

Medicine Cat: **Leafpelt **– light-brown tabby she-cat

Warriors:

**Runningheart** – dark gray tom

**Apprentice, Gorsepaw**

**Spottedfur **– light-brown tom with dark brown spots, green eyes

**Whitestripe **– pale gray tom with a white stripe down forehead and white flecks, blue eyes

**Apprentice, Crystalpaw**

**Tornclaw **– young black tom, with a torn claw

**Gorsewhisker **– light-brown tom, white muzzle

**Wetfoot **– white she-cat, black paws

**Toby **– brown tom, former kittypet

Apprentices:

**Gorsepaw** – brown tortoiseshell tom

**Crystalpaw** – white she-cat, ice blue eyes

Queens:

**Sandpelt **– pale ginger she-cat, with dark brown flecks

Elders:

**Lionfur** – big golden tom, amber eyes

**RiverClan**

Leader: **Ivystar** – dark gray she-cat, blue-gray ear tips and dark blue eyes

Deputy: **Mudnose **– light-brown tom, dark brown muzzle and amber eyes

Medicine Cat: **Snowflower **– white she-cat with light-brown spots, green eyes

**Apprentice, Mosspaw**

Warriors:

**Stonewing** – black tom, pale gray ear tips and paws

**Apprentice, Rosepaw**

**Leafwing** – brown tabby she-cat

**Shinespirit** – big golden-brown tom, black flecks and amber eyes

**Lakeflower** – gray-blue she-cat, dark gray flecks and green eyes

**Streamfoot** – pale gray tom, blue eyes

**Apprentice, Beechpaw**

Apprentices:

**Mudpaw **– brown tom, black paws, amber eyes

**Rosepaw** – russet she-cat, green eyes

**Beechpaw** – white tom, pale gray spots

Queens:

**Silverbrook** – silver-gray she-cat, blue eyes

Elders:

**Voletooth** – small brown tom


	2. Chapter 1 - A Lioness, To Begin With

_Chapter 1_

_The moon shone above the lake_ as the night took place in the Clan territories. The ThunderClan leader quietly led his Clan through the marshy way to the Island. Lionpaw looked at the tall trees, not too far from where they were. Her eyes shone. It was her first Gathering and she had been made an apprentice a moon ago, but not in time to catch a Gathering. She had enjoyed exploring the ThunderClan territory for the first time, but she still wanted more. The sounds and smells made her confused yet amazed. They had already passed WindClan territory and entered RiverClan's lands.

"Is the Island very big?" Lionpaw looked over her shoulder to her mentor, who was on her heels.

"Quite big, Lionpaw." He answered patiently.

"We have to explore every corner of it!" Spottedpaw said. He had been made an apprentice along with Lionpaw. They were the same age, but they weren't littermates. Spottedpaw's mother, Dappleflower, died in his kitting along with another kit that had been born dead, so Nightshadow, Lionpaw's mother, had suckled Spottedpaw.

"Yeah, and I can't wait to see the other Clans too! I wonder how they look like!" Lionpaw replied.

"I'm in no hurry to meet ShadowClan!" Honeypaw mewed as she catched up with Lionpaw and Spottedpaw. She had been made an apprentice the day before and had been following the two around since her very first moment as apprentice. Lionpaw found it quite irritating, specially the way she mooned over Spottedpaw.

"Well I am! I can't wait to see their faces!" Lionpaw replied. She wasn't afraid of ShadowClan at all, differently from Honeypaw.

"Me neither. The closer we are to our enemies, the better!" Spottedpaw said mischeviously.

"Firstly, we have no enemies, just rivals. Secondly, we come in peace so don't even _think_ about nosing yourselves into a fight. Am I clear?" Spottedpaw's mentor, Lightningclaw, said, catching up with the apprentices.

"Alright, alright, we know." Spottedpaw replied. Lightningclaw narrowed her eyes and raced ahead. Spottedpaw turned to look at Lionpaw and rolled his eyes. Lionpaw purred in amusement.

"Look, we're here!" Honeypaw mewed.

"Yeah, there's the tree-bridge!" Spottedpaw said excitedly.

"Come on, let's go!" Lionpaw mewed before bouncing off. She easily ran between her Clanmates, dodging a few flicking tails and zigzagging through a bunch of legs. She finally arrived at the fallen tree. The elders had told her that a cat was killed by that tree when it fell and that StarClan itself had made it happen! Lionpaw was about to leap up into the legendary bridge when Spottedpaw flung himself ahead of her and up onto the tree.

"Hey!" she squeaked. Lionpaw saw through the corner of her eyes Honeypaw, about to do the same thing. Lionpaw didn't really bother if Spottedpaw had done it, but she'd _never_ let Honeypaw go in front of her like that. Lionpaw leaped up and onto the trunk as fast as she could and lifted her head triunfantly only to feel something bump into her side. She couldn't hold onto the slippery bark and crashed down into the cold water. It was freezing! Lionpaw thrashed her paws wildly and scrambled back to the shore. She looked up to see what had bumped into her and made her fall. Honeypaw. Anger burned like fire in Lionpaw's eyes. She raced forward and leaped up high, just behind Honeypaw, who was looking at her with scared, expectant eyes. Lionpaw pushed in front of Honeypaw and growled as she padded past. She knew many cats were staring at her and she was extremely ashamed but it was Honeypaw's fault. _Stupid she-cat…_, she thought.

"Are you alright?" Spottedpaw asked.

"Yeah, fine." Lionpaw mewed. SPottedpaw padded on and reached the roots of the tree, sticking up. He leaped over them and landed safely on the floor. Lionpaw did the same, except she leaped from twice the distance he had. She landed on her paws, glanced back at Honeypaw and kept walking, Spottedpaw beside her.

"It was an accident, you know." Spottedpaw said.

Lionpaw sighed. "Yeah, I know, I was just angry."

"I would be too…" he replied.

"Well let's just not be upset, today is meant to be a fun night, right?" Lionpaw mewed.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go! I'll race you to the middle of the Island!" Spottedpaw said before darting off.

Lionpaw's paws crashed at the ground as she followed her Clanmate. She felt the easy night breeze on her fur and smelled the different Clan scents among the wet tree roots on the edge of the Island. Even though Lionpaw's fur was still plastered to her body due to her fall in the water and making her cold she was enjoying the night. Lionpaw closed her eyes and ran blindly through the ferns and bushes, only acknowledging her own way by Spottedpaw's scent. She began to drift into the fishy and muddy scent from RiverClan, the earthy and rabbit smelling scent from WindClan, the marshy and foul scent from ShadowClan and the comforting ThunderClan scent coming from Spottedpaw, as well as the watery scents from the Island and from her own fur. Suddenly, Lionpaw crashed into something, in fact, someone. _Oh no…_

"Get off!" hissed a big, ShadowClan smelling light-brown tom.

Lionpaw scrambled to her paws and stared wide-eyed after the tom she'd crashed onto. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" Lionpaw mewed, her voice trembling.

"Keep your eyes open, then!" the tom growled. He stared into Lionpaw's piercing blue-green eyes and padded off, his broad shoulders and strong muscles showing under his fur. Lionpaw held foot, her whole body tense and her legs trembling.

Spottedpaw bounced over to Lionpaw's side and rested his tail tip on her back. The golden-brown apprentice was still staring after the tom she had hit, eyes wide as and owl's. "Are you alright?" the tom asked.

"I think so…" Lionpaw mumbled.

"Lionpaw! Are you alright?!" Stormcloud arrived, panting, beside the two apprentices.

"Yeah…" she mewed.

"Do you know who that was?" Lightningclaw growled as she arrived beside the three cats. "Guess not! It was Cedarstar! Yes, the ShadowClan _leader_!" Lightningclaw snarled.

"What? No…" Lionpaw whimpered, desperate.

"Lightningclaw, stop it! Do you think this is a good experience for her first Gathering?" Stormcloud growled staring angrily at Lightningclaw. Stormcloud was older and more experienced than Lightningclaw, therefore, was quite more sensible and experient.

"Fine, I just thought it would be better if she knew who she just crashed on!" Lightningclaw retorted. Even though Lightningclaw was always stubborn and hot headed she was an amazing runner and hunter, and also a good fighter. She was a fine warrior.

Stormcloud sighed. "Go on, go explore the Island, you two."

Lionpaw nodded slowly. Stormcloud looked at Spottedpaw and gave a tiny nod toward Lionpaw. Spottedpaw nodded and nudged Lionpaw in the shoulder. "So, do you still want to check out the Island?" he asked.

"Of course! And I saw the look you gave him, Stormcloud. I need no watching over, just so you know!" Lionpaw said. She whipped around and raced away. Spottedpaw rolled his eyes and raced after her.

Lionpaw started to relax. She reached the middle of the Island and looked around. She just wanted to forget what had just happened and meet new cats. She examined the place. On the left corner of the fairly big clearing was a group of elders and a couple of senior warriors sitting nearby. In the middle there were cats walking around. Near the Great Oak there were medicine cats beginning to gather and on the right corner there was a group of warriors and, a few tail-lengths away, a line of ShadowClan apprentices sitting down beside each other. "Let's go meet those apprentices." Lionpaw suggested.

"Sure." Spottedpaw said, sounding uninterested. Lionapaw raced down the short slope, Spottedpaw followed.

The she-cat approached the apprentices carefully, Spottedpaw by her side. "Hey." She mewed.

A black tom turned and stared at her. "ThunderClan folks. I should've seen that coming…" he smirked.

Lionpaw narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, you really should have seen it coming. Too bad you weren't good enough." She retorted.

The ShadowClan apprentice's eyes were bursting with anger. "What's your name anyway? I'm Nightpaw." He growled.

"No need to be so nervous, you know. I'm Lionpaw and he is Spottedpaw." Lionpaw said, nodding toward her Clanmate as she spoke his name.

"You're afraid to talk, huh?" Nightpaw growled to Spottedpaw. "Why doesn't your little friend speak for himself, _Lionpaw_?" he hissed.

"I can indeed talk. I just realized I shouldn't waste my voice on you. In fact, I just did. I admit it was a bad decision. Not to mention your Clanmates seem too quiet for the daring and mighty ShadowClan cats you think yourselves." Spottedpaw meowed calmly.

"They aren't talking for the same reason you weren't. We're as smart as you, but smarter even because _they_ didn't talk." Nightpaw retorted.

"Out of answers, huh?" Spottedpaw mocked.

"Hey Lionpaw, why are you so wet? Your little claws couldn't get a grip on the bark?" Nightpaw growled.

"If you want I can show you whether my claws are small and can't get a grip on something. Anytime, actually. You can just ask." Lionpaw replied. "Besides, I bet your soft flesh would be easy to _shred_."

Nightpaw stepped forward and bared his teeth. Spottedpaw and Lionpaw tensed their muscles and narrowed their eyes. Nightpaw's companions unsheathed their claws and Nightpaw crouched down, preparing to pounce. Lionpaw widened her eyes in surprise but braced herself for a fight. She felt her blood run cold and her belly churn. Very suddenly, just before Nightpaw could pounce, Wildtalon shoved herself between the apprentices.

"Just what do you _think_ you're doing?" she growled. "It is against the warrior code to fight on Gatherings! It hasn't happened any time recently and it won't happened now just because of a silly apprentice discussion!" she snarled.

Lionpaw immediately backed away and sat down. She dipped her head to Wildtalon and waited. Spottedpaw sat beside Lionpaw. "Good, and you'd better nto cause any more trouble…" the she-cat muttered. She looked at the ShadowClan apprentices and, scared, they backed away. Nightpaw, however, remained. He flattened his ears and stared challengingly at Wildtalon. The warrior purred in amusement. "You must be quite a pain to your mentor!" she laughed, but added more seriously "Now you might spoiled, but keep your stubbornness for later and back off. You wouldn't want to be disloyal by breaking the code, would you?"

Nightpaw narrowed his eyes and backed away slowly. Lionpaw realized Wildtalon was looking somewhere else. She followed the warrior's eyes and they led to a ShadowClan tom who was staring at her. Lionpaw nudged Spottedpaw and they padded off. Lionpaw noticed the tom had begun to approach Wildtalon, and even though the she-cat was looking mostly at the tom she gave Lionpaw and Spottedpaw occasional glances. Lionpaw, however, wanted to see what would happen when the tom reached Wildtalon and she knew Wildtalon wouldn`t do anything with two apprentices staring expectantly at her. When the tabby warrior wasn't looking, Lionpaw grabbed Spottedpaw's scruff and flung themselves under a fern thicket.

"What in StarClan are you doing? Are you insane?" Spottedpaw hissed. Lionpaw ignored her friend and started stalking through the bushes and thickets. Her fur got caught on the branches sometimes but she kept going until she was near Wildtalon, at least enough to hear what she and the ShadowClan tom were talking about. Suddenly, Spottedpaw leaped beside her. "So you're spying?" he asked.

"Kind of, I want to hear what they're saying, now shut up." She replied.

"Hey! Over here, yeah, right here! Look how naughty she-" Spottedpaw's yowl was interrupted as Lionpaw slammed into him and pinned him down.

"Have you got bees in your brain?" Lionpaw growled.

"Get off! I'm just kidding!" Spottedpaw hissed.

"Now I'm _not_ getting off!" Lionpaw hissed.

"Oh yeah? Let's solve this out, then…" Spottedpaw growled. He rolled out from under her and slammed into Lionpaw's leg. She stumbled down as Spottedpaw got to his paws. He placed his front paws in her back and grabbed her scruff in his jaws.

"So funny I forgot to laugh!" Lionpaw growled as she kicked sideways, hitting Spottedpaw's hindlegs. The tom crashed down on Lionpaw's back, but the she-cat managed to slip from under Spottedpaw and get to her paws.

Suddenly, someone spoke. "What are you two doing here?"

Lionpaw looked up. "Stormcloud!" she squeaked.

"Nothing! We were just playfighting…" Spottedpaw said.

"Alright, now the truth?" Stormcloud persisted.

"Fine. We were planning to surprise Snowpaw and attack him from under here." Lionpaw mewed, looking at Snowpaw, who was a little way behind Wildtalon, talking to a WindClan she-cat.

"I see..." Stormcloud said with a hint of humor. "Oh, just go, you two! Have fun and don't you get into trouble."

Lionpaw nodded awkwardly and Spottedpaw got to his paws and dipped his head. Lionpaw suddenly heard Cloudstar, the WindClan leader, yowl the beginning of the Gathering. When she looked back to where Wildtalon was, there was only the tom, looking at Wildtalon as she strode away. Lionpaw shrugged a crouched out from under the bush. Spottedpaw joined her and, together, they padded to sit under the Great Oak. The leaders were already up there and the deputies on its base. Lionpaw's eyes shone. That was her biggest dream: to become a warrior, a deputy, a leader. She didn't like thinking herself ambitious. She'd heard enough nursery tales about greedy, blood thirsty, ambitious, evil warriors. She wasn't like that, but she was definitely not a follower, besides, she wanted to help her Clan not only by hunting and fighting, she wanted to make choices, determine who would be who's mentor, lead patrols, solve prophecies and be respected and known in the whole forest. Lionpaw lacked no conviction she'd make a great leader but she knew she'd have to work very hard for that. _One day…_


	3. Chapter 2 - Rogue Among The Stars?

_Chapter 2_

_Lionpaw creeped confidently through the undergrowth_ as she followed the squirrel scent she'd picked up. Spottedpaw and Lightningclaw had joined her and Stormcloud in a hunting patrol. _Crack_. Someone stepped on a twig. Lionpaw tilted her head. She had split up with the others while going after her squirrel, who was there? She sniffed the air but only smelled squirrel. Lionpaw shrugged and kept going. She spotted the squirrel and halted. She crouched down where she was and prepared to pounce. She tucked her hindlegs inner under her belly and when she was about to make the leap she swished her tail in excitement and sent a few leaves flying. The squirrel squeaked and dashed away.

"Mousedung!" Lionpaw hissed at herself. _Try again…_ a voice echoed. Lionpaw's blue-green eyes stretched wide. "W-what? Who's there?" she stammered. Nothing. Lionpaw shook her head. _Nevermind it…_, she thought. The she-cat sniffed the air. The squirrel's scent was already getting stale but Lionpaw picked up faint mouse under it. Why lose time? Lionpaw began following it right away. Not too far away from the ShadowClan border Lionpaw found the mouse and managed to catch it. She carried it farther inside ThunderClan territory. _I don't want any stupid ShadowClan cats mooning over my prey or accusing me of stealing theirs, do I?_

"Hey, found that squirrel?" A voice asked.

Lionpaw leaped up and spun around still in the air. "Spottedpaw!" she breathed as she recognized who had talked to her. "You scared me!" she mewed.

"Yeah" he purred in amusement.

"I missed the squirrel but caught this…" Lionpaw mewed picking up her mouse. "What did you catch?"

"Your squirrel" the tom purred as he revealed, behind him, the very same squirrel that had escaped from Lionpaw.

"Was it you? That told me to try again?" Lionpaw asked.

"What in StarClan are you talking about?" Spottedpaw said, actually looking confused instead of playful and ironic.

"How would you like to pair up and hunt together?" Stormcloud called as she trotted toward the two apprentices. He was carrying a blackbird and a small vole.

…

"Nice catch, Spottedpaw!" Honeypaw praised as the hunting patrol arrived at Camp.

"Thanks!" he answered proudly as he carried a squirrel, a couple of mouse and a thrush in his mouth.

"Well you didn't catch half of that, did you?" Lionpaw teased.

"Shut up, Lionpaw." Spottedpaw growled.

"Just kidding, Spottedpaw… Easy will you?" Lionpaw answered indignantly. Spottedpaw shrugged and padded off to leave his catch in the Fresh-Kill pile. Lionpaw slowly walked over to the Fresh-Kill pile to leave her catch and padded off to her den. She curled up in her nest and fell asleep.

Lionpaw opened her eyes to find herself in a field. _I'm dreaming_, she thought. The apprentice explored the golden field eagerly, although, she was quite annoyed by the hot weather. Suddenly, Lionpaw spotted a black bundle of fur among the golden tall grass. She crouched down and begun to pad forward. Suddenly, she saw it again, and once more followed the mysterious black fur.

"I knew you'd come…" a tom with a grave meow said.

Lionpaw whipped around many times, looking for the one who was talking to her. Inside, she was terrified, but on the outside, she had her teeth bared and claws extended.

"Don't you fear me, little one… After all, I came to you expecting you to be brave…" the tom spoke again, but the voice sounded as if it were closer to Lionpaw than the last time.

"I don't think I am the one afraid of something!" Lionpaw spat. "After all, I'm not the one hiding!"

"You are quite brave, _and_ daring…" the tom meowed thoughtfully.

"So what? Why are you even here…?" Lionpaw asked.

"Yes, you have potential…" the tom meowed at last. Suddenly, a big, muscular, jet-black tom revealed himself to Lionpaw. He had piercing, unusual, icy-blue eyes and long, sharp, black claws. "Now, you want to be a warrior don't you?" he asked.

Lionpaw narrowed her eyes. _He is probably not just a dream, and does not look like a StarClan resident. Maybe he's from the Dark Forest… I hope they aren't planning an attack or something. I've heard enough about the Great Battle. It happened hundreds of moons ago, it couldn't be happening again, could it? Well, he might want to train me, and, it _would_ be a good opportunity… Maybe I'd better show at least some interest on him and in what he has to offer, whatever it is…_, Lionpaw thought. "More than a warrior if you wanna know…" the golden-brown she-cat answered, at last.

The tom's tail went straight up in amusement and his eyes shone in some kind of greed. He stared at Lionpaw as if she were a piece of prey. "Very well… If that's so, you'll want to be the best, won't you?" he asked. Lionpaw nodded slowly. "Then I'll train you." He concluded. "You meet me every night, in your dreams, and I will train you. What do you say?"

Lionpaw lifted her chin. "I accept the offer, as long as you answer me three questions." She meowed firmly.

"And what are those three questions?" the tom asked, eyes narrowed.

"First question, what's your name?"

"Brokenspirit." He growled.

Lionpaw was taken aback by _Brokenspirit_'s sudden rudeness but she didn't flinch. "Second question, where are you from?

Brokenspirit flicked his tail but had a hint of humor and amusement in his eyes. "No, I'm not from the Dark Forest." He smirked. "However, I'm not from StarClan either…" Lionpaw cocked her head in misunterstanding and waited for the tom to keep talking. "Let's say I'm a rogue…" he meowed.

"A rogue walking among the stars…" Lionpaw meowed thoughtfully. "Well, third and last question, why?"

"Why?"

"Yes. Why did you come to me, why do you want to train me, and why me?" Lionpaw braced herself for an answer. Would the star walking rogue be angry with her question?

"You are strong, smart and ambitious. That is having potential. I've been looking for a cat to train for some time. I want you to train your hardest, to leave your mentor wide-eyed, to show your Clan who is the best." He answered.

"But why?"

"Do you want the training or not?" Brokenspirit growled.

"Fine… Do we start now?" Lionpaw asked.

"Sure. Let's see how well you fight; attack me." Brokenspirit meowed calmly.

"Unsheathed?"

"Yep."

Lionpaw unsheathed her claws and crouched down. Brokentspirit held foot and stared down at the apprentice. Lionpaw slammed toward his front paws, intending to knock him down, but Brokenspirit lifted his legs rapidly and Lionpaw landed on bare ground, under Brokentspirit. The tom leaped forward and turned around. Lionpaw quickly got to her paws and turned to look at Brokenspirit. He was about to say something when the she-cat flung herself forward. She was staring at his neck and knew he'd dodge the attack; so he did, and Lionpaw landed perfectly on his back. She sunk all her claws in his black fur and raked open the soft skin. Brokenspirit rolled over and threw Lionpaw to the ground. He got to his paws quickly and tried to sink his teeth in the she-cats neck, but she managed to escape from his bite and get to her paws. She was about to flee when Brokenspirit held her down again and sank his claws on her shoulders. He bit down on her chest and Lionpaw yowled in agony. She kicked hard on his neck and cut his breathing for a second, enough time for her to get to her paws and leap in the tom's back. She sank her teeth on the back of his neck and rakes her claws down his broad shoulders. He rolled over again but Lionpaw leaped off before he managed to squeeze her again. The tom kicked her head and she stumbled down. She got up, panting.

"Alright, can we stop now?" The she-cat mewed.

"Sure." Brokenspirit said as he got to his paws. Lionpaw blinked in relief. Suddenly Brokenspirit slammed into her, bringing the she-cat down. He raked his claws down her flank. She twisted around wildly and managed to escape from Brokenspirit's grip. She leaped on him and viciously sank her teeth on his neck, also scraping her claws on his hindleg. She leaped backward.

"If you want to kill me, you're gonna have to try harder!" she spat.

When Brokenspirit was about to get up Lionpaw slammed on his back, not letting him get up. She then leaped backwards again and waited. "I don't want to kill you" Brokenspirit laughed. "I wanted to see how far you can go, that's all" he said. Lionpaw lifted her chin and stared at Brokenspirit questioningly, as if asking, _how did I do?_, but the tom kept silent for some time. "Well, you did fine… For an apprentice." He answered at last.

"You weren't so bad yourself, for a dead cat." She retorted.

"See? That's the kind of cat I want. Meet me here again tomorrow, that's when you'll start learning how to fight…"


End file.
